In the electronics industry, devices comprising relays are typically used to operate machinery and circuits. Such devices typically rely on energisation or switching on/off for operations.
In some of such devices, users may be able to set parameters to be monitored by the relay. For example, when the device is connected to a three phase power source, the parameters monitored may include nominal operating voltage range, over voltage limit, under voltage limit, time delay, phase asymmetry threshold etc. The parameters are calculated from a desired working/operating condition which the user also manually programs into the relay. For example, if a user sets the working condition of a power supply as 240 V, an overvoltage tolerance of 5%, that has also been set, causes the relay to calculate an overvoltage limit of 252 V such that the relay switches on/off when the monitored voltage level meets the calculated limit. As a further example, if a user sets a voltage range to 400 V, an under-voltage limit to 300 V, an over-voltage limit to 440 V, an asymmetry limit to 30 V and a time-setting to 5 seconds, this would instruct the relay to monitor a physical input parameter of a source on whether the parameter is less than 300 V or more than 440 V, or the difference of voltage between 3-phase leads is more than 30 V. If any condition is met, the relay de-energizes after delaying for a time-delay of 5 seconds.
However, in the above example, one problem that typically arises is that when the relay de-energizes, the user is only aware that at least one of the conditions is met but is typically unable to tell exactly which condition(s) is met. For instance, the user is not able to differentiate between a phase loss fault, a phase sequence fault, a phase under-voltage fault, phase-overvoltage fault or phase asymmetry fault.
The lack of knowledge on the exact causes of such a device switching off can make diagnosis difficult and costly. As the trial and error approach may typically be used to diagnose problems, the entire diagnosis session may be extremely time consuming. Also without having real-time information of a source (for e.g. a power source), a trip cannot be accurately pre-empted or prevented. Accordingly, as the trip may occur any time without providing any fore-warning signs, this may lead to unnecessary downtime for the equipment controlled by the relay, which may in turn lead to an undesirable drop in productivity.
Currently, the inventors have recognised that there is no suitable device or method which can provide information on the exact causes of a trip or real time information on the different characteristics of an input source e.g. a power source to pre-empt any potential aberrations in the input source. This may be due to a lack of an efficient method or mechanism for detecting the characteristics of an input source and communicating such information.
Hence, in view of the above, there exists a need for a method and device for communicating information relating to an input source that seek to address or ameliorate at least one of the above problems.